YES, I KNOW....... Hong Kong is NOT part of Scotland (its not even part of the United Kingdom anymore) but we had to stop-over somewhere and we hadn't been to Hong Kong so ..... now we have!
We managed a 9 hour plus trip to HK from Sydney rather well - very comfy (Premium Economy) and quiet so the time passed by OK. The more than 60 minute wait for our luggage ( a bloody baggage handlers dispute!!!) and then having to traipse up and down to our room in the hotel twice as the magnetic keys wouldn't work ("oh, the battery seems to have died") before being allocated another room. When we finally settled in we decided to eat in the hotel as we were too worn out by then to bother wandering around in the darkened streets looking for a restaurant or whatever.
Today though, we have caught buses, ferries, trams and taxis to explore a bit - mainly up to the top of the Victoria Peak on Hong Kong island. Here's afew pictures to get you started.
View from our bedroom window.
A Star Ferry passes ours on our way from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island
View from the peak
and another
Gail with an old rickshaw - no-one to pull it though!
small workboat in the very busy Victoria Harbour
Lots of buses here and tall buildings !
On our way to the markets
Ladies Markets - evening street stalls
Gail appraising the wares on offer
After an email from British Air kindly informed us that our 11:15pm flight to London tonight had been delayed until 9:20am the next day we ran around like chooks with their heads cut off off a while and then, after rebooking our room and confirming that, yes, the flight was delayed, we decided to visit the Nan Liam Garden and nearby Chi Lin Nunnery to find some peace.
It was almost working until BA rang and offered us a free room at an airport hotel .... after we had booked an extra room at our present hotel of course!
So, after our peaceful wander through the beautiful gardens we returned to the hotel and negotiated a "deal" ... we'll pay for 6 hours, use the room a bit more and then leave for the airport and sort out the hotel there. All fun and games.
Next problem is getting to Lancaster on arrival at Heathrow as our booked (and paid for) train tickets London to Lancaster are now gone and obviously we are not going to book replacements until we are definitely there! Van Hiep is due to meet us on arrival and travel with us up north to pick up our hire car (which we obv won't be picking up on time(or even the designated day - bet we still pay for it though!)
Ahhhh.. the joys of travel (or "the best paid plans of mice and men"????)
We managed a 9 hour plus trip to HK from Sydney rather well - very comfy (Premium Economy) and quiet so the time passed by OK. The more than 60 minute wait for our luggage ( a bloody baggage handlers dispute!!!) and then having to traipse up and down to our room in the hotel twice as the magnetic keys wouldn't work ("oh, the battery seems to have died") before being allocated another room. When we finally settled in we decided to eat in the hotel as we were too worn out by then to bother wandering around in the darkened streets looking for a restaurant or whatever.
Today though, we have caught buses, ferries, trams and taxis to explore a bit - mainly up to the top of the Victoria Peak on Hong Kong island. Here's afew pictures to get you started.
It was almost working until BA rang and offered us a free room at an airport hotel .... after we had booked an extra room at our present hotel of course!
So, after our peaceful wander through the beautiful gardens we returned to the hotel and negotiated a "deal" ... we'll pay for 6 hours, use the room a bit more and then leave for the airport and sort out the hotel there. All fun and games.
Next problem is getting to Lancaster on arrival at Heathrow as our booked (and paid for) train tickets London to Lancaster are now gone and obviously we are not going to book replacements until we are definitely there! Van Hiep is due to meet us on arrival and travel with us up north to pick up our hire car (which we obv won't be picking up on time(or even the designated day - bet we still pay for it though!)
Ahhhh.. the joys of travel (or "the best paid plans of mice and men"????)